


It's Not Over

by N1Empire



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Mike, Jealousy, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-03-28 16:03:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13907487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1Empire/pseuds/N1Empire
Summary: Will freezes when he sees the writing. The other group members, Lucas and Dustin, in the middle of their conversation, cuts off, but Mike... Mike takes one look at it and suddenly storms off. Time seemed to slow down.The words are sloppy, carelessly scrawled on, as if the words... meant nothing. But the words meant everything to Will.And finally, without Will's consent, the tears spills over his eyes.





	1. It's Not Over

**Author's Note:**

> Hands down, the cutest Will/Mike video I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTzk7YVMP7U  
> P.S. You've got to read the subtitles. No, seriously. WATCH IT! You'll be missing out ;D

"Mike. Mike.  _Mike - "_

 _This isn't happening._  Mike's breathing is short and quick, he sees it in the mist as he breathes in the freezing air and  _w_ _here the heck am I even going?_  Mike abruptly halts and  _thinks. Think. Yeah. This is better. This is -_ And Mike's head stays clear for a few seconds before -

 _That didn't just happen. It didn't-! Dammit!_ Mike releases his fist that was digging into his palm because it was starting to hurt and instead fists it into his hair because - because there was  _nothing else he could do_. And that red, swirling anger is there again and it's so hard to _t_ _hink_  straight.  _Stop it! Is this going to help Will? No! So for the life of you, Wheeler, get a -_

A spot of green in the near distance.

_The school's soccer field._

"Mike. Come on, man. Where're you even going?" Dustin's out of breath voice a mere three metres away from him. "Let's stop for a second and talk about it. Yeah, that sounds good. What d'you think, Lucas - ?"

Mike launches into a full sprint.

"MIKE! Dammit _, stop him!_ "

The school's soccer field. That's where - that's where those bastards were -

And Mike's running even faster than when the freaking demodogs were after him.

" _Dammit,_  ow, _ow_ stitch! Son of a  _bitch_  -  _Lucas!_  Stop Mike!" Loud, unceasing swearing from Dustin before it suddenly cuts off, but that spot of green was slowly growing bigger, and he's almost there, could probably almost  _make_  it, just two metres away, could practically taste the revenge in the air -

And  _OW_ Mike's arm is almost yanked out of his socket. Skidding, stumbling, Mike stops and suddenly  _Lucas_  is there in his face and yanking on his arm. "OW! What the  _hell_ , Lucas?!" And for a moment, the sickness in his gut is gone. For a moment, Mike stops seeing the writing on the wall behind his eyelids since five minutes ago -

The writing. And the sickness comes back in full force.  _Oh god._

"Where the  _hell_  are you going?!" Lucas yells  _right into Mike's face. That didn't just happen -_ Mike cranes his head back to the figures he's just spotted and wrestles himself out of Lucas's grip -

"Where do you think?! The soccer field! That's where those - those  _bastards_  are. If we - if we can just - "

"Mike, can you stop being an  _idiot_  -"

"Get  _off of me!_  What the hell is  _wrong_  with you?! They're just  _there_!"  _What don't they understand?_ Mike yanks his hand out and starts for the soccer field before Lucas launches in front of him. Lucas opens his mouth, but Mike's done listening. "We need to do  _s_ _omething!_ "

"Mike -"

"What's wrong with you? How are you guys acting as if it's okay?! It's not! They insulted - "  _They made Will_... _"_ They insulted  _Will_!

"Yeah, I  _know_." Lucas fires back in a heartbeat. And a horrible, tense silence falls between them. Lucas takes a few huffs of breath and runs his hand over his hair. He  _looks_  at Mike. "But what do you think you're going to do, huh? Go and fight him  _and_  his new cronies?"

" _Yeah_!" Mike shoots back. Then, "What?" in response to Lucas' eye roll.  _Yeah? Well, who cares what Lucas thinks_? For all Mike cared, he could go and sit in a corner and  _do nothing_  so long he doesn't stop Mike. And Mike would gladly let him stay there with his eyes rolls, but then Lucas  _stops_  him again as Mike tries to move past him.

"Well,  _we_  don't want to be flattened into pancakes so stop for a second,  _think_  about it. And oh yeah, while you're at it, how about you calm. The hell. Down!" Lucas shoves Mike as Mike shoves him back -

And as Lucas unwittingly lets go, Mike shoots past him. "MIKE!  _Damn it_!"

"Mike. Wait, man! At least  _wait for_   _us_ _!_ " Dustin yells at the top of his lungs, and he hears running footsteps -

"Mike..."

And Mike completely loses it. Everyone's calling his name, trying to stop him and doing nothing to help Will - And without even a second's thought, Mike whirls around at them and  _snaps_.

"Will you  _stop_  saying my name!"

And it takes him a few seconds before he realises who he's just shouted at.

Eleven.

_Eleven._

Eleven who's just arrived from the opposite side of the building along with Max. Max, who's out of breath, holding out a hand to her side and panting, but Eleven had looked at Mike and without hesitating, reached out to him.

And the hurt expression on Eleven makes Mike feels the metaphorical knife twists further in his stomach. The feeling he's been inexplicably getting for a few months now whenever he looks at Eleven and Will at the same time, contributes to his wild mood swings. Oh god, even Mike's breathing was erratic, and he's still not thinking straight... Max, on the other, looks  _pissed as hell_.

"What the hell, Mike?  _Chill_. Eleven's just trying to help, and  _god_  knows you'll need it if you're planning on getting anywhere with kicking that guy's ass." And finally, finally seeing clearly for the first time, Mike sees their breathing harshly, he sees Dustin, Lucas and Max frowning... And Eleven was staring at him... Seeing him...  _angry_  and flying off the handle. Seeing him - 

Uncharacteristically unlike Mike.  _Great. Way to go, Wheeler._ They stand there for a tense moment. Everyone was there, staring at him. Everyone except - 

 _Will_.

And Mike. Can't.  _Help_. Him.

 _Again._ And a different kind of sickness that's different from his feeling from El -

"So what?"  _Stop it, Mike. This isn_ _'t going to help Will. So dammit, calm yourself down._ Yeah, because being angry doesn't help Will at all, so  _dammit,_  Mike makes himself calm down. It works - slightly. The anger is sealed just enough. He takes a breath. Opens them. And his voice is calmer this time. More Mike. More Mike so he'll be able to help Will.

"You want to let those - those  _meatheads_  go around saying Will's - " and Mike cuts off. Because for the  _first time in his life_ , Mike couldn't find the words. It almost stuns him. He clenches his fists instead, and  _tries again_  - "Saying he's -" but the words are like ash, and stays lodged in Mike's throat, and even if he tried, can't force it out, so he skips past it. "Because they will."

He doesn't have to say it out loud anyway. He can see it in their eyes that everyone knows what he's talking about though.

Eleven reaches out, and Mike notices with a slight pang that she waits tentatively for a second, before she touches Mike gently on his arm. She gives Mike a small smile.

"Then we'll stop them."

* * *

There's so much oxygen in the world, so  _much_  but at the moment, all Will could focus on was the fact that he can't breathe.  _He can't_ breathe _. Please_ breathe _._ But his lungs aren't working and he can hear his own strangled gasps, and the claustrophobic, stiff white walls of the Hawkins' school infirmary looks so much like the hospital -

And a shadow, a person beside him and for a moment, Will's heart  _skips_  a beat and he  _flinches_ , but then he sees it's the school nurse kneeling next to Will. And he's still not breathing.

_Breathe._

Hunching further over on the bed, Will blindly grasps his shirt. Grasps it so desperately and clutching it until it hurts. The fabric of his brown, hand-me-down jumper from Jonathon feels hard through another squeezed on top because  _it likes it cold_  and Will  _doesn't._ But now, right at this moment, it's restricting his breathing. Letting out a breathless gasp, Will almost wishes he hadn't worn so many clothes today.

 _Almost_.

Will shuts his eyes, tight, and tried to ignore the familiar scent of chlorine and disinfectant and how much it reminded him of hospitals and  _screaming_ and  _hurt_ , but then it's all he could smell, and it's flooding his senses -

"Will, honey. You've got to  _breathe_. Count to ten, sweetie. Count with me in your head, okay?  _One, two, three..._ "

 _One._  Will follows her lips.  _Two_  -  _it's not working -_ _three -_

And then a small precious amount of air seeps into Will's lungs before it sharply cuts off again... because all Will can hear is the worry in the professionally controlled panic of the nurse's calm voice. And if she's panicking... then just like that -

 _There's something wrong with me_  again _._ And Will, eyes still screwed tightly, can hear the hushed whispers of the scientists in Hawkins' lab again as they spoke between themselves, and Will wanted to open his mouth and tell them that he could hear them, could see...  _stop it, stop it, stop it!_ And the way they speak to his mom, and...

A flash of his mom and his heart  _clenches_. The image that usually conjured emotions of love and caring, now replaced by a horrible feeling of  _guilt._  It was so,  _so_ hard to look at her after Bob, and the moment when Will opens his eyes for the first time after the Mind Flayer was pulled from his body and  _asked where Bob was, and his mom turns away. But he's already caught the tears and Jonathan had to tell him softly later that..._

_That..._

Andeach time, after that, Will opens his mouth, wants to say 'I'm sorry', but it gets caught in his throat.

Because, because no one knows better than Will is that she deserves something better, something  _not wrong_ , something that doesn't make her anxious, doesn't give her sleepless nights and exhausted mornings and sad memories. And now, if his mom gets called in, then Will's making her worry again. Someone else besides Jonathan, Lucas, Dustin, Eleven, Max and Mike...  _Why? Why can't I just..._ Something Will loathes that he made others do as he grip tightens. Because he doesn't make them laugh, not like Dustin. He doesn't make them excited for events or games in a way only someone who genuinely cares about made-up games, not like Lucas. And he doesn't make them smile. Not like...

Not like... Mike. No. Instead, the only thing Will can do is make them  _worry_.

"Will?  _Breathe_ , honey." The nurse's voice fades into the background, and he forces his eyes open. The nurse is right in front of him, her lips moving. And Will sees her eyes.  _Worried_  eyes.

 _Breathe_. Will wills desperately to himself. _Breathe._ But the images suddenly flashes in his eyes, and his air gets cut off again, because all Will sees is his dented  _locker_  and the white  _wall_  next to it and -

_They need to get rid of it._

"They - I - " he stutters, but even as he tries so hard to force the words out, it's stuck like a lump of coal in his throat. "I - " But then a warm hand touches Will's shoulders and -

"Shhh," she whispers soothingly. Soothingly, just like his mother and rubs circles on his back. Soothingly, but different from...

From Mike. When Mike's arms drapes casually over Will's, or the time when Will's hands were shaking so much when Mike puts his own over his and it stops. And Will's gut twists again, because the  _wall_  -

"Just focus on breathing." But he  _can't,_ his mouth is dry and now he's starting to see black and without looking in a mirror, Will knows that there's tears in his eyes and it's about to spill over. And just one name that Will's been trying to push from his mind... makes it all so much  _worst_.

_Mike._

Will had never seen Mike that...  _angry_  before. Will freezes when he sees the writing. The other group members, Lucas and Dustin, in the middle of their conversation, cuts off, but  _Mike..._  Mike takes one look at it and suddenly storms off. Time seemed to slow down. Will looks back at the wall because maybe he's imagined it, maybe it isn't real -

He takes one look at the wall. But it's real. And it physically hurt. The words and writing are sloppy, carelessly scrawled on, as if the words... meant  _nothing_. But the words meant everything to Will. It took everything in Will to not _break_... But it's not the  _wall_. It's the wall with the writing in it -

Will doesn't know what's worst. That just last night Will's stomach hurt and not one minute later he throws up a slug, or the one hope that maybe... that maybe Mike could have been...

Or Mike vehemently denying that Will wasn't...

That Will wasn't...

Because if he  _was,_ then that would be the worst thing that could happen.

And finally, without Will's consent, the tears spills over his eyes and his vision of the blurred white sheets of the blanket turns into  _darkness_ just like the Upside Down, just as he's a second away from unconsciousness because he's still not  _breathing._ And with no air in his lungs, the nurse swiftly picks up a needle and injects him with it.

* * *

Outside the infirmary, Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Eleven and Max  _waits._ Waits and waits and waits, but Will was still not coming out.

"You don't think they'll _arrest_ her, right?" Dustin whispers, his mouth sideways. Obviously talking about Eleven. "Or maybe the hospital will send the police over and you know, maybe Hopper, since he's the chief police to question the school on what happened to them. Or maybe they'll -"

"Shut up, Dustin." Lucas mutters, hands on his head. He was getting a damn headache and Dustin bringing up all these questions was something that's not exactly making it better. No. Strike that. It's making it  _worst_. And Lucas swears, if Dustin keeps  _going_  he might just tear his hair out -

"But what if..."

"Dustin, man! I said, shut _up_."

A moment of pure, heavenly silence -

But then Dustin shatters it by sneaking in a last quip. "What if Mike goes crazy over this?" Lucas opens his mouth to tell him that  _he_  was the one who was being crazy for even suggesting something as stupid as that, before the words really hits him. And then Lucas, as well as Dustin, both steals a cautious glance at Mike. Mike, their oldest friend and the leader of their tight-knitted group, was wringing his fingers together and incessantly tapping his foot against the floor in an indiscernible pattern.

Eyes completely and utterly glued to the door.

"Mike." Dustin says, and Lucas can smell the vending machine chips that Dustin previously ate due to the fact that they all forgone lunch in favour of apparently giving Eleven moral support to beat the shit out of Troy and the rest of his lousy gang. Because  _obviously_  she didn't need any help. "Mike. The door won't open just 'cos you stare at it til your eyes sting. Unless you're, you know, El. Speaking of which... El." And Dustin and Lucas both look at Eleven who's busy in a deep conversation with Max. Max was whispering to her, very possibly telling her what she could, or couldn't do.

Like, you know, maybe knocking the boy down and threatening him to  _stop_  doing things like... like what that bastard did _..._  instead of sending said boy to the ER and very possibly getting the police involved.

"Need help there, Max?" Dustin calls over, and now Lucas' stomach is being melodramatic and is freakin' yelling at the whole world to listen and get  _food_  into it, because otherwise it'll stop functioning and  _die_. Max just rolls her eyes, and looks ready to ignore them. Eleven, though, looks up at them, effectively stopping the conversation between her and Max.

"...Help?"

"Yeah. Like, you know." Dustin gestures randomly, confusing Eleven even more as she watches him. "Maybe tone down on the bit where there's, you know,  _fatality_  involved." Dustin supplies. Before giving her a pearly grin. Eleven, still confused, gives a small, hesitant smile back. And even though it's little, Lucas has to admit that he feels relieved that Eleven could relax and after everything... At least, more than ever before when she was stuck at Hawkins' lab.

Mike, who Lucas didn't know was listening in, suddenly speaks.

"Does it matter? He deserves it." Mike mutters to himself, eyes still peeled to the door. Tapping his foot louder this time. "Besides, the police can't blame it on Eleven. There's no evidence. She didn't even touch him."

"Yeah." Lucas mutters, totally intending to keep it to himself. But of course, Mike has to hear him. "Technically."

"Why are you acting like you feel...  _sorry_  for him?"

This shocks Lucas to the point of suddenly becoming speechless. Because what the _hell_  -? "Why are  _you_  acting like we're not on your side?" Lucas shoots back. "Or rather, not on Will's side -"

"Because you're  _not_! Otherwise - " Mike yells. "Otherwise you'd let El  _kill_  him!"

As soon as the words slip out of Mike's lips, there's stunned silence. Everyone stares at Mike. A pin could drop, and everyone would hear it loudly and clearly. For a moment, even Mike looks stunned. But before anyone could say anything else, the door swings open and a familiar figure is standing there.

_Will._

* * *

_Shit starts when a teenager wishes he could kill someone._ Max thinks to herself. Of course, she'd never kept tabs on such people besides Billy. Maybe it was the heat of the moment. She wishes it was the heat of the moment, because  _no one_ , and she means  _no one_ , needed a second Billy on this Earth. Or at least in Hawkins. Let's be realistic. Max never asks for much.

But Will... the one person of the group that Max has never been close to, was the cause of all this. Max didn't see what the writing said on the wall, only knew that Mike blew up, Will can't stops the tears that suddenly springs up, and everyone  _else_  was tight lipped about. It takes only a minute for Eleven and Max to hear about it, and without a heartbeat of hesitation, Eleven was already running off to Mike.

Which brings them to here to the plastic seats outside the infirmary instead of where Max had expected, like the principle's office... or maybe a police station.

After you know, Eleven beats the punks into a bloody heap.

Well, if facing expulsion and possibly juvenile jail was worth it (because Mike would get the blame for being the ringleader and Lucas and Dustin wouldn't let it go standing so they'll be fighting to get Mike out of trouble so much that  _they_ land in trouble themselves) then Max wasn't the one to judge. Hell, even when Will was in trouble a few months ago, and she was around, she was kept out of the loop, everyone was willing to risk their lives for him.

Of course, Dustin and Lucas probably didn't guess that Eleven would have gone that far to send the guys to hospital, and Mike  _definitely_  thinks it's worth it. But to kill?

Thankfully, no one has the time to comment about Mike's willingness to let Eleven actually kill the dudes... because the door swings wide open and Will's standing there.

"Will..." Dustin starts, but trails off, either losing his train of thought or modifying what he was going to say. Everyone stands up, including Max, and Eleven follows suit. Will is pulling the door shut from behind him. Completely not looking at any of them.

"My... mom's... she's going to come pick me up." Will says, quietly, eyes cast to the ground. He's speaking even quieter than normal - she thinks - but everything else seemed okay. Except for the part where he's, well... obviously not okay.

 _Way to be articulate, Max._  Which brings her inner mulling into an abrupt pause when Lucas replies.

"Already?" Lucas asks as he checks his watch. It's the middle of the day, Max's could've said. She'd already checked. Not that she thought it was a bother to be here, but aimless... "Now?"

_Right. The airhead's missing the point entirely._

"...Yeah."

"Will... are you okay?" Max cuts in, asking the most important question. She shoots a look at Dustin and Lucas, who were still eyeing him, but not as intently as Mike was staring at Will. Mike, who unexpectedly hadn't yet said a single word.

There's a split second of silence before Will looks up, and smiles softly at everyone. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Max couldn't even tell whether or not it was fake anymore.

* * *

_Mike... was angry. This was - the third time he... yelled today._

Max said it was bad to harm others, unless they were very bad, bad people. Like the people at Hawkins' lab. They were very bad. But Troy and James were also bad because they made Mike jump off the cliff, and now, they were hurting Will. Will, that everyone seems to be... protective of. But they couldn't protect him from the words that hurt Will. Not physically hurting, not what Eleven could see at the time, but by using bad words. Words that Eleven couldn't understand, because words can't hurt...

Can they? But with all of Eleven's mulling, these words, these  _specific words,_  could. These words that brought tears to Will's eyes, Lucas and Dustin shocked and made Mike...

_Angry._

Mike was angry. And now, after Mike's outburst, Eleven is even more confused. Because unlike what Max had said, and what Dustin had said about not putting boys in hospitals, Mike says he would have let her kill him. But Eleven couldn't ask which one was correct because the door swings open and Will was standing there. Max asks if Will is okay, and Will says yes, he's fine, and Eleven understands that. But Mike...

Mike doesn't believe him.

"Will - "

"Mike, I'm fine." Will says quietly, and he moves past them. Past the group. Past Mike. Past Eleven. And as Eleven glances down, the scars on Will's wrist are hidden because Will had started to wear long sleeved jumpers... jumpers that seems lumpy...  _Oh._  Not one jumper but more. And now Will is leaving, but that is bad because Hopper once told Eleven that she mustn't miss school unless something bad is happening to her. For example, when her stomach is hurting, or there's an emergency like the bad men going back on their word and suddenly hunting her again... As Hopper pulls a face because he hates that thought... And right now, it would have brought a smile to Eleven to how much Hopper cares for her, but she pushes it away because there are more important matters.

"Will, are you... sick?" Eleven asks softly, but then her concentration is  _shattered_  because as she watches, her eyes automatically goes behind Will, because behind Will is Mike, and Mike catches her attention and Eleven watches as Mike's eyes... are completely on Will's.

Will.

_Mike's best friend._

"Will... can we talk?" And the question is normal... yet oddly strange. And Will's gaze snaps to Mike. And all this time, Eleven thinks it's strange but at the same time it might not be, because Hopper hasn't finished the lessons on social norms and there's still so much Eleven doesn't understand, and Will's eyes flicker away and his mouth, which has previously been open, closes, and he swallows.

 _"Who is... Will?" Eleven had once asked Mike. Without missing a beat, Mike answers immediately. "He's my best friend."_ But... from what Eleven could see, Mike seldom acts the same way to Lucas or Dustin, even though he's mentioned to Eleven that they were also his best, best friends, too. So Eleven's decided that maybe Mike is growing apart from Lucas and Dustin. Because things change as Hopper once told her when Eleven asked why there were no more episodes on her favourite space opera. He'd said,  _maybe the actors decided to move on, and, you know, stop acting._  To which Eleven was rightly horrified and demanded that they should stay as actors and nothing else for the rest of their living lives. Hopper had chuckled and ruffled her head before kissing it good night.

 _Because_ , as Hopper reminds her again before walking off,  _things change..._

Just as how Mike had yelled at her today for the first time since four years ago at the fight between Lucas and Mike, and Eleven had thrown Lucas off of Mike... and Eleven wonders if things were changing between  _them_... and Eleven doesn't realise she's looking at her hand before Max touches it. Eleven looks at her, and Max gives a look that asks,  _are you okay?_  But Eleven looks back at her hand, a hand that does so much damage, kills lives,  _saves lives,_ when outstretched and aimed... She closes her hand, into a soft fist. So unlike Will, who despite not having telekinesis...

...Was also strong.  _He survived._  Eleven turns away from Mike, and focuses on Will. But...  _Who is... Will? Who is Will..._

_...To Mike?_

"I'm okay, don't worry." Will says again, and his gaze flickers urgently for a split second to the door.

"Mike. Will's said he's fine, man." Lucas whispers, nudging him subtly to back off. But Mike's eyes are still on Will's and -

And just for a moment, Will's expression  _changes_. Just a flicker of a second that no one should be able to catch. No one except the people who were watching Will intently.

Which means Eleven and Mike.

For a second, Will  _grimaces_.

Eleven opens her mouth to say something because even she can tell that  _that_ is definitely, without a doubt,  _not_ okay -

"I -" But Will doesn't finish the sentence. Instead, Will suddenly moves backwards, stumbling a bit in the wake. His back hits against the school wall. It's loud enough to resound with a small thud. And with that as a parting word, Will runs off.

Startled, Eleven glances at Mike, wondering if they should maybe go after him. "Mike - " But the words cut short as Eleven realises she was talking to air.

Because Mike was already gone.

And just like that, as she turns her head to the double doors, they swings gently shut, almost missing the back of Mike's jacket before closing them off...

Just as she closed the gate forever from the Upside Down.

* * *

Will blacks out for just a second, but then the nurse injects him with something, and his lungs start to breathe again. Then, as fast as lightning, she's on the phone and calling his mom. So Will spent five minutes trying to convince her that he's fine and she really doesn't need to send Jonathan who'll cancel his shift and pick Will up, and, and -

And his mom is saying she or Jonathan will be picking him up in ten minutes, and... the line goes dead.

So after stalling for a few more moments, Will steels himself and opens the door. Everyone turns to him, standing up. Will looks at everyone, _almost_ everyone, because it's too hard to look at Mike.

"Will... are you okay?" And Max's asking him whether he was okay. Will looks at her, at Dustin, Lucas, Eleven and - and  _Mike_ , and gives a smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Will says, clutching his sleeves. And Will honestly, _honestly_  thinks he gives a genuine smile, seen it in the mirror at night, had practiced it until it hurt, forced himself to master it and finally, even if all the smiles that seems to come later feels fake on his face, it worked. But Mike... Mike was staring at him and...

 _How does Mike always seem to_ know _?_

"Will - "

"Mike, I'm fine." Will hears himself whisper, before he tries to move past them again. It's getting harder to look up, getting harder to breathe, his lungs betraying him again and half clenching and unclenching his fists. He succeeds in moving past Mike, then Eleven... and then Eleven is asking if he's okay.

"Will, are you... sick?" She asks, and before Will can answer her, suddenly Mike is there again and Will sucks in a breath.  _Too close._ Will takes a small step backwards and Mike doesn't seem to notice. Maybe. His eyes were still intently on Will's.

"Will... can we talk?" Will's eyes flicker away, can't seem to hold Mike's gaze and his mouth which has previously been open, closes, and he swallows.

And... the wall. The writing on the wall.  _Stop... thinking about it._ Will pushes it away to the back of his mind, but just like the Mind Flayer, it's still  _there_... So Will ignores it for the time being, pretending it wasn't there.  _I'm fine,_ he repeats. And Will was doing so well, but then Mike keeps asking and it was getting harder to lie and the air was suddenly starting to disappear again, and then...

Will can't stop the grimace appearing in his face as a sudden, explosive pain _flares_ in his stomach. And just like that, Will knows he made a mistake. And Mike's expression changes. 

_Get out of there, get out of there, getoutofthere -_

Panicking, the first thing Will thinks of, is to run to the bathroom. But the bathroom's too far away, and anyway that meant having to pass his friends and Mike wouldn't - definitely wouldn't let it go... he would follow him right into the bathroom where Will will  _throw up -_

_Oh god. Get out of there._

And Will's brain kicks into hyper drive and he sprints across the hallway, darting out through the double doors. Just a few metres left as he bursts outside, and the biting wind hits him, through the double jumpers and Will doesn't know where to go. Will stutters, half hyperventilating because -

The trees. The pathway. The Hawkins' school sign. The parking lot right in front -

 _Empty._ His mom's car wasn't here yet.  _Get out of here, out, out,outout before -_

Then it's too late. A second later, the pain hits him in  _full force_ and Will's legs gives way. Buckling over, Will clutches his stomach and a soundless gasp escapes his lips. The sickening feeling that  _always_  starts from the stomach, as if the slug suddenly comes to life, then creep its way painfully up his diaphragm as his body fights to expel it, and the slug resists, trying to stay, trying to stay alive and  _claim_  him -

He coughs,  _gags. He couldn't breathe._ Heart pounding, gags,  _g_ _et it out, get it out -_

"Will!" And through his screwed up eyelids and tears, Will hears someone calling his name and he  _panics_. Someone touches his arm. Everything blanks and he  _pushes_... But even if he can't see who it was, he can still feel the crisp fabric, the familiar  _jacket_ and warmth that to Will meant a certain _someone_ draping his arms over Will's so casually, and the name of that person was on the tip of his tongue -

_Mike._

Will forces it _down,_ and the slug  _slides_ _back into his stomach._  Tears pricks in his eyes, Will can feel it but at least - at least he's stopped it from... letting Mike  _see_  -

" _Will_ , what's wrong?" There's panic in Mike's voice and Will moves away from him, because he has hide it,  _he has to,_  as if his life depended on it, even if at the same time Will thinks it's not true, it is, and Mike shouldn't have to worry about him, there's too many people who's  _worried_ about him, and he's  _swallowing_ , swallowing the thick saliva and forcing himself not to gag again -

"Will, can you  _stop_  -?" Because Will's still pushing...

And Mike's hand is grasping on Will's arm and  _stops_  him from trying to push him away. And just like that, at the same time, Will feels the same electricity as well as the panic, and it... and he has to stop trying to get free, because Mike is  _stubborn_ and he wouldn't let up... until he gets an answer. And despite his good intentions, it's something Will can't handle right now. So Will freezes. Controls his expression. Sucks in a quick breath, and Will turns his gaze up at Mike, Mike who's grown since that event of 1984, _still_ growing -

"What's wrong?"Mike's panicked expression and trying hard, trying and failing to meet Will's eyes. But again, for no reason, Will feels hot tears in his eyes.  _I - I need to get out of here._

And the pain in his stomach starts again. It twists and turns like a sharp knife. "My mom's... she's waiting -" Will manages to bites out. And even as Will knows he's getting better at lying, being around Mike, panicking and the  _pain_... Will hides his face as he grimaces, just managing to swallow a gasp as Mike, hands still on his arm, steadies him, or maybe even the only thing that's holding him up, and even Will hears the painfully bad lie that comes from his lips.

_What do I do? What can I do -_

"Will..." And the next sentence catches Will off guard. "What do you - want me to do?" And Will realises he's staring at Mike and Will doesn't know what Mike saw in his expression to even ask that -

Will backs off, wiping whatever it was that Mike saw. And Will doesn't understand why. Mike, on the other hand, follows him...

"Will, I'll do it." Mike is saying, and now he's trying to get Will to keep his eye contact on him, not knowing that he's always, always has it when he's not looking. Unaware of Will's inner dilemma. The sickness and -everything that was _wrong with him._ "Whatever it is, just name it. It's taken care of, I  _promise_."

And at those words, Will can't stop the tears from spilling over. Because... because there's too many things that Will  _wants._ He wants to know why he's throwing up slugs... why it's still happening even after Eleven closed the gate...  _He likes it cold_... Even now, he's trying not to throw up, he wants everything to be normal, nothing to have ever happened to him in the first place. But... he doesn't deserve it. Too many questions...  _Why do you think I'm not...?_ Will wants to say, but it's stuck on his throat and he can't even finish the thought. And anyway, it's too risky, it's a risk he won't take, because of the answers that might entail. _Because you'll stop being my friend? Because...?_

And Will's been thinking too long, because now Mike's looking at him, and there's  _worry_ in his expression, again, and... it's almost like it's the Mind Flayer time  _again_  -

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Mike says all of a sudden just as his grip tightens.  _Urgently_. And even though Will doesn't feel threatened, not like when Lonnie does this, because it's Mike, and... and Will looks at him this time, his gaze flickering between both eyes, both so familiar, yet so distant when he imagines what it might turn into if Mike ever realises the writing on the wall was _true_... But then again, it's Mike,  _Mike,_ who was there for him all through the Mind Flayer's possession, from the beginning to the swings on that first day of kindergarten to the end when the Mind Flayer was forced out of his body in burning white hot _pain_...

_Mike._

And, just like on autopilot, Will opens his mouth. "Mike. Can you..."  _promise me you'll stay... promise me that you weren't lying when you said... the first day when we met, and all those times when you promised we'll be best friends no matter what..._

"...What?" There's a slight crack in Mike's voice. "Anything, Will."

"Can you... get Eleven?"

"What?"

"Please." A breathless plea. That part was real. And Will hates himself. Lying. Looks up to Mike, willing to do anything for Will, but Will knows that that isn't real. It's not real, because  _no one_  would do that for him. No one, especially not Mike. Will feels tears welling up in his eyes and Mike takes the wrong meaning. Thinks that Will's desperate for Eleven even though he's actually desperate for something else.

Something else that's  _impossible_.

"Okay, okay." Mike nods, half turning, half trying to communicate to make Will see that he's going to get Eleven,  _no matter what_.  _And it's so confusing, and... and Will doesn't need this right now..._ "Stay here, okay?  _Stay here -_ " And with those parting words, Mike leaves, sprinting back up the steps to the school as fast as he could. Will watches him as he hears the soft rumbling of a car engine pulling up onto the street.

_Mike._

As Mike arrives back with Eleven on tow a minute later, Will's name so familiar on his lips -

"Will - "

But Will was gone.

And all Mike could think was:

Will had left.


	2. Anything for You

_He's not okay, he's lying, he has to be_. These are all of Mike's thoughts as he stares at Will, just  _standing_  there. The same Will who's been his best friend since _forever_. But Will keeps on insisting he's fine and Mike... well, maybe he starts to believe it but then, no, no way, there's no way he's  _fine_ , and all his thoughts and feelings are twisted, caught halfway between rational and wanting to  _believe_  his best friend... _because okay, if Will says so, it must be true, right?_ But the thought of Will actually lying to him, even after  _that_ time with the Mind Flayer...

But no. _Maybe Will, maybe Will really thinks he's fine. Yeah._ And Mike's just overreacting like his friends seems to keep saying lately -

And then, just for a moment, Will's expression  _changes_. Just a flicker of a second that if Mike hadn't been watching Will for the tiniest reactions, he might not have caught.

For a second, Will  _grimaces_.

And all Mike's thoughts of Will not lying flies out the window.

"I..." But Will doesn't finish that sentence.  _Will isn't fine._ And Will's body seems to be betraying him, showing what Mike already knew. Will fumbles as he moves backwards, stumbling a bit in the wake. His back hits against the school wall, as if he's trying so hard to keep upright. And a memory flashes as Mike thinks,  _it's just like that time -_ The same where Will's hiding something, when they were playing sword fights with wooden swords before they even met Dustin and Lucas - and Mike accidentally hits him. Will had dropped the swords in a flash, and even though he insists he's fine, Mike panics and Will can't hide the blood that's streaming out of his cut... 

Will's back hit the wall with a resounding, small thud. And just before Mike could react, could react out to him -

With that as a parting word, Will runs off.

Will  _runs_ off.

 _Will_.

And suddenly Mike's sneakers hit the floor, running after him. He doesn't even hear his friends calling him. Doesn't even hear Eleven's voice that if he thinks back hard, might have said something, because -

"Will!"

Will all but _sprints_ out of the double doors, and disappears behind it in a span of seconds, and Mike's gut tightens even more, impossibly  _tight_  -

_Whatever, even if he's lying, just lie, but please just be fine, I don't care, okay - ?_

Mike bursts out of the door to see Will doubled over by the Hawkins' school sign in the grass, clutching his stomach.

"Will!" And Mike doesn't even know how he moves so fast but in the next second Mike's next to him in a heartbeat, already reaching out for him and he doesn't even know what he was going to do, _just do anything,_ when Will was _pushing him away._

" _Will_ , what's wrong?"  _What's wrong? What's wrong, what'swrong?!_ But Will's completely closed himself off and now Mike can't even see his face because Will keeps on  _pushing_  him and Mike's conjuring up all the things that he's seen on TV and anything about how to help someone... that Mike gets it into his head that if he can just see Will's face he can fix it -

"Will, can you  _stop_  -?"

And without thinking, Mike's hands suddenly moves by itself. He wonders why Will suddenly stops, then realises... His hands are on Will's arms. Grasping him... and Will freezes. There's a second of silence that felt like an eternity to Mike, with that knife twisting in his gut, before Will finally looks up at him.

"What's wrong?" Mike's panicked expression and Will's eyes are suddenly filled with tears. And for a wild thought and his heart drops all the way to his stomach, Mike thinks,  _is it me?_

"My mom's... she's waiting -" And that throws Mike off because any idiot can see that the parking lot was  _empty_. There's no car, no bike, nothing to show that someone was waiting for Will, and Will hides his face again, swallowing hard and then Mike couldn't see him again and all of a sudden, Will is buckling and Mike catches him and he  _panics_.

_What is it? What is it - ?_

When Mike catches Will's eyes again in the midst of steadying him, Mike stops short. In Will's' eyes, there's silent pleading. A silent, desperate cry for help. And a flashback of when they were younger and Will had the  _exact same look_  flashes so vividly into Mike's head.

_"...Mike?"_

_The familiar voice of his best friend whispers through the radio. Mike, nine years old, opens his eyes. The clock shows that it's two am. In autopilot, Mike reaches out and feels around clumsily for a torch. He yawns, stopping abruptly when his jaw hurts, and blindly feels for the switch._ _A tiny light shoots out and zones onto the bedside table._ _Mike reaches over and snatches the walkie-talkie off of it. He sits up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes._

_"...Yeah? Over." And he lets go of the button._

_There's a few seconds of silence and Mike, in his half dreaming state, starts to wonder if he actually dreamt Will's voice. Great. Now he's accidentally waking Will up by mistake because of a stupid dream. Miffed, he exhales exasperatedly to himself, reaches to put it back..._

_Then Will's voice comes through the radio again. And Mike stops. He brings the walkie-talkie back to himself. Will's voice is soft and slightly breathless. Mike wouldn't realise that it sounded slightly_  off _until he's wide awake the next morning._

_"...C-can I... um. I - um..." And Will trails off. There's silence again, and Mike's starting to drift off. He doesn't even realise Will hasn't said anything before his eyelids are falling shut, and Mike nods forward a bit -_

_He catches himself mid motion of face planting into his bed._

_A pause. Then Will's breathless voice in his head -_

_Will._

_Mike slaps himself on the forehead. Ow. It works. He's more awake._

_"What's wrong, Will?" Mike coughs. Being woken up at the middle of the night was making his voice crack. "Over."_

_Then..._

_Total silence. Then, the bad feeling hits him with the strength of a wrestler slamming into his gut. Mike's eyes fly open and he's totally awake. His grip around the walkie-talkie_ tightens _. "...Will? You okay? Will?"_

_Deafening silence._

_One and a half minute later, Mike_ flings _open his front door, just catching it before it slams into the porch's window. H_ _is thin jumper is draped over him despite the skies pouring its eyes out, because it's the first thing he lays his hands, so dammit, Mike is wearing the stupid thing because all he can think of is carrying out a plan that involved biking to Will's house with said torch clutched in his hands, despite the ungodly hour. Who the hell cares if he gets grounded?! So he takes a foot out, braces himself for potentially being slapped with the wind and rain -_

_And recoils sharply backs, clutching his heart because -_

_His best friend, Will, was standing in front of his door, wearing the hugest jumper, even for Will. Will. Will is standing there. His clothes were soaked, and Mike is_ floored _. Will, not_ as _surprised to see Mike as Mike was to Will - maybe because he heard the thundering footsteps as Mike literally flew down the stairs._

_"Will." Mike says. Because that's all his mind could think of at the moment._

_"I - sorry. I was... nevermind." Will's shaking his head, tugging down his sleeves, pauses, and as if he's just realised he was right outside Mike's front door and rethinking it, Will takes the smallest step backwards -_

_"Wait." Mike's hand shoots out, and wraps around Will's wrist. Will looks down, and opens his mouth to say something, then stops. "What is it? Just tell me. You can tell me." And Will is staring at him, wide eyes, and... stuttering._

_"Can I... if you aren't - um..." Will's eyes are flickering, wringing his sleeves under his jacket. It was for a split second, but Mike hadn't missed the silent pleading in Will's eyes. And Mike... without knowing how - Mike just realises what Will wanted._

_"...Want to sleepover?" Mike whispers. It's still raining, and the wind was still biting against his thin, stupid jumper... But Mike doesn't feel the wind, not even noticing the rain that was blowing into his eyes, only... only looking at Will. And Will's eyes floods with relief. He timidly nods, and -_

_And without a second thought, Mike pulls him in into the warmth and closes the door behind them. And an hour later, when Mike wakes up from a restless sleep to check on Will again, Mike sees Will sleeping, tucked cosily next to Mike's bed in Mike's sleeping bag. And Will looks... To Mike's relief, Will looks okay. Safe. And with a smile on his face, Mike falls back to sleep, with thoughts of Will being safe in his mind._

So now, now five years later, when Will's eyes are on him, staring at Mike, there's this horrible feeling of  _something is wrong._  The only difference is this time, Mike... Mike doesn't know  _why_. And then he panics.

"Will..." And Mike's grip tightens on Will's, to show that he's there, always  _will_  be there just like before. "What do you - what do you want me to do?" And Will seems taken aback,  _why? And then, as if something hits Will, Will seems to realise that he was full on staring at Mike, and backs off again._ And just like that, Mike's  _losing_  him again -

Without hesitating, Mike follows him, and _-_ thinking he was going to leave him again... because by  _god_ , Mike needs to make Will  _understand, make him understand_  -

"Will, I'll do it." Mike blurts out, because honestly - he'll do anything Will asks. Even - even take his place in the Upside Down if he could. "Whatever it is, just name it. It's taken care of, I  _promise_."

And now, Will's tears suddenly spills over, and... Will's eyes this time, looking into Mike's... was different. It was complicated, and a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts that Mike wasn't part of.  _I'm here, I'm here, Will, I'm here,I'mhereI'mhere -_

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Mike says, andeven  _he_  can hear the desperation in his voice.  _Because Will has to know. There's nothing that Mike's more sure of than those words in that sentence._  And Will looks at him this time, his gaze flickering between both eyes, the eyes that Mike's looked into for _years_ , gets up from that rainy day to see those very eyes smiling and...

And not like now, not like the - the  _smile_  Will gave earlier to Max, to Dustin, Lucas, Eleven and -

And with a painful realisation...  _me._ And the  _lies_. Because doesn't Will get it? Mike's been there all this time, even then, even now, through the damned Mind Flayer's possession, even since the beginning to the swings, to the swords, to the bullies and to the end with the Mind Flayer and even _further_ into the future -

 _Tell me. I can fix this. I'll do anything._ And Mike... believes it. Even believes he'd go further. 

And, and for a moment, Will opens his mouth. "Mike. Can you..." And Will  _trails off._

" _What?_  Anything Will." Because Mike should have realised it since the Mind Flayer, even before that.. He realises it now. Because it's so, damned, true. Mike is willing to do anything. Willing Will to see this, that there's nothing he wouldn't do. 

"Can you..." Will whispers, and it's so quiet that Mike almost leans in. "Get Eleven?"

"What?" Mike's wildfire thoughts slams headfirst into a wall.  _Eleven?_

"Please." A breathless plea. And Mike stares at Will. Literally stares at him. Because even though that sounded so, so real - there was something slightly off about that. And Mike hates himself that he couldn't ... _tell_.  _What? It's the truth. No, there's something wrong. Why would Will need Eleven?_   _Wasn't he enough?_ Obviously he isn't, otherwise Will wouldn't be asking for... asking for Eleven. But Will must need Mike for  _something_. What is it, then? Mike could see it in Will's eyes.  _There's something else, I know it, just need to know_ what _it is to fix it -_

And tears are suddenly welling up in Will's eyes. No.  _Get Eleven. What the hell are you doing, Wheeler?! Will needs Eleven!_

"Okay, okay." Mike nods so fast, already half turning, half trying to communicate to make Will see that he's going to get Eleven,  _no matter what_. Because he's willing to do anything for Will. "Stay here, okay?  _Stay here -_ " And with those parting words, Mike leaves, sprinting back up the steps to the school as fast as he could.

Mike sprints up the steps, only slowing down for only the  _fraction_  of a second because actually falling down will make Will wait longer, and literally  _burst_  through the doors. Lucas stands up from his seat, and Eleven is looking up from fidgeting with her hands -

"El! Will's asking for you - " Mike yells and he doesn't even wait for an answer before he's back through the entrance doors in a flash, but then he hears the slight thud of someone catching the door, which meant Eleven must have - _probably_ \- followed him -

_Will, Will. Stay there, stay there -_

Mike is back in record time, down the steps,with Eleven right behind him, Will's name so familiar on his lips -

"Will - !"

But the school yard was empty. The spot next to the sign where Will was standing was empty.

 _Will_.

Will left.

* * *

_"Jonathan? Jonathan, sweetie. I need you pick up Will from school, okay?"_

His mom's strained but frantic voice rang through the store's phone. It takes a fraction of a second before the words hit Jonathan. That was enough for Jonathan to almost drop the phone, saying yeah, sure, he'll be there in like, ten minutes - 

And _literally_ bursting through the doors to the car. 

 _Okay, okay. Remember, Jonathan. You can forget everything else, but just remember this._  The entire trip right from Jonathan receiving the slightly hysteric call from his mom, and yeah, transmitting that hysteria a little to himself, to grabbing his car keys from his pocket, barely apologising to his boss as he whips out, and finally driving to Hawkin's High School took less than ten minutes. And all this time, Jonathan was reminding... 

 _Remember._ Don't _treat him like a baby. Will doesn't like that. Yeah._ Jonathan still remembers the conversation he had with his brother from almost two years ago and late night conversations with his mom.

 _"Mom. You're, um - doing it again."_ _Jonathan says, over the.. a fortnight ago. Joyce, whose hands were resting at her chin, glances at him. For the first time in twenty two minutes, her gaze is peeled from staring absentmindedly at Will's dark bedroom door._

_"...Sorry, I -" The automatic response before Joyce realised she didn't quite hear him. "What'd you say?"_

_"You were, um. Doing it again." Jonathan gestures vaguely to the door. "You know. ...Staring."_

_"Oh." She lets out a tired chuckle, before wiping her hands onto her trousers. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's just - " She expels a shaky breath and runs a hand through her frazzled hair. "It just comes back to me, you know?"_

_"Yeah. I know." Jonathan whispers, remembering how he would check each room and forcing down panic if he comes home and Will wasn't there in the living room drawing or doing his homework._ _"But maybe..." Jonathan takes a deep breath, before continuing. "Maybe we need to stop treating him like he's going to break."_

 _There's a moment of silence as the words stills the air. Joyce wrangles her hands in her laps as if she could see the nightmares of Will going missing - b_ _efore wiping it down and looking at Jonathan. She gives a strained smile. "Yeah. You're right. I - You're right."_

_"So. Is it a deal? We don't treat Will like he's going to break?"_

_"Yes. It's a deal." Laughs. "Enough about that. How's work? I heard Steve's been promoted to manager..."_

And the conversations usually went like that. It was always here or there, snippets of conversations about Will, when Will was asleep, because they never had time in the afternoon. Work and financial problems were falling heavily on both their shoulders, and... But from then on, Jonathan had promised himself to keep the deal.  

 _Yeah. Keep the deal. So whatever it is_ , Jonathan reminds himself. _I'm not going to freak out._

_Easy._

Jonathan nods to himself one more time, before he readjusted his sweaty grip on the steering wheel before relaxing it. _Yeah. Don't freak out._ A mere minute later, Jonathan spots the familiar Hawkins' High School and it's green, dying sign. For months, he and his mother had taken turns to drive Will to and from school that Jonathan swears to Will he could drive there in his sleep. Will had laughed and... and that's it. Will had laughed, and that was all Jonathan could focus on.  

Smiling softly to himself, he spots Will, a small figure standing by the trashcan and to his surprise, he lets out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Not to mention subconsciously roaming through Will's body to see if he was physically fine. 

_It's fine. Let him tell you. Don't push it. Don't freak out. Totally easy as that._

He drives in closer, inching in and parking just right outside the school so Will didn't need to walk. The car stops and Jonathan opens his mouth to what he hoped was going to be a casual greeting -

Will swings open the passenger door of Jonathan's car harshly and crashes inside. The door, swung open by the momentum, creaks - and is shut promptly in the same movement. Now Jonathan was back to holding his breath. 

_Remember. Don't freak out, Jonathan._

"Hey, buddy." He hears himself say softly, barely registering it as he stares at Will. At the same time, he's attempting to subtly scan him, brain already going into overdrive. Thoughts of not freaking out still echoing loudly in his brain, but another, more emotional and less rational bit was threatening to take over. "You okay -?"

"Can - we just go?" Will bites out, abruptly cutting Jonathan off. "Please." Jonathan, slightly taken aback, bites his lips. "Sure, buddy. Yeah. Yeah, we can -"

There's a soft crackle of a paper bag, and suddenly small and multiple  _thuds_ onto the floor. Stealing a glance, Jonathan catches the sight of Will turning over his lunch bag and upturning the contents. A wrapped sandwich in plastic foil, juice, an apple and a packet of crisps that Joyce packed falls onto the car's floor by Will's sneakers. 

Jonathan laughs. "Yeah. I think if Mom insists adding an apple actually makes the lunch healthier than it is, I'd do the same. Right, Will?" 

Dead silence but the sound of the wind against the car. "Hey. You okay, buddy?" Jonathan glances over and... Will was just holding his lunch bag. "It's fine. You - can tell me anything, you know that, right? So, what's up - ?"

And the sound of retching makes Jonathan's bullshit of not freaking out _shoot_ out the window. 

_"Will?!"_

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hands down, the cutest Will/Mike video I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTzk7YVMP7U  
> P.S. You've got to read the subtitles. No, seriously. WATCH IT! You'll be missing out ;D


End file.
